Norwich Free Academy board approves $460,000 in campus capital projects
Upgrades include new roof and wheelchair lifts
Norwich — The Norwich Free Academy board of trustees approved $460,000 in capital projects Tuesday for upgrades to several buildings this summer, including a new roof for the oldest part of the Bradlaw Building and new wheelchair lifts for three classroom buildings.
Capital projects at the NFA campus are funded through the Repair, Replace and Renew Account, an endowed account separate from the academy’s operating budget and not funded through tuitions paid by NFA district towns.
Head of School David Klein said the total is within the normal range of $400,000 to $500,000 in annual summer construction projects proposed.
The largest ticket item is $170,000 to upgrade technology infrastructure throughout the academy. Klein said the new system will come with a three-year guarantee, and the cost will be partly offset by eliminating the $30,000 annual maintenance fee the academy pays on the old system.
The $125,000 replacement of the oldest portion of Bradlaw — the long building that runs along Joseph Perkins Road. Klein said while none of the capital projects will interrupt summer programs at NFA, this project would cause the most disruption, with construction vehicles and equipment.
Vertical wheelchair lifts in the Cranston, Shattuck and Bradlaw buildings is expected to cost a combined $75,000. The three classroom buildings currently have traditional chair lifts that run at an angle up the stairs. Klein said those lifts have weight limits of 450 pounds. But many high-tech motorized wheelchairs now weigh over 400 pounds alone, without an occupant.
The new lifts will rise vertically, like an elevator, and then move the chair horizontally over the stairs to the next level. The new lifts have weight limits of about 750 pounds, Klein said, and will not inhibit access to the stairways.
The remaining projects approved Tuesday are: $40,000 to continue a three-phase renovation to the Tirrell Building lobby with “branding” and interpretive signs on NFA history and programs; $20,000 for a fire door in the Slater Memorial Museum/Converse Art Gallery; and $30,000 for kitchen grease traps in the cafeteria in Tirrell and the Brickview Inn in the Cranston Building.